Longtime readers of this website may remember Best Western hotels launching The Kicks on Route 66 Tour campaign. In short, the campaign provided an interactive list of attractions along Route 66 and encouraged participation using social media and geocaches. I recently wondered how well this campaign worked for Best Western. Then this video popped up a … Continue reading Best Western Route 66 program pays dividends
Category: Web sites
Next Exit History app needs more work
The Next Exit History app sounds like a good idea but needs plenty of extra work and refinement before I can recommend it to Route 66 fans and other roadies. Next Exit History was developed by the University of West Florida and Historical Research Associates. It's designed to help users with iPhone and Android devices to … Continue reading Next Exit History app needs more work
Excuse our mess
Things may look a little strange on Route 66 News over the next few days. That's because we're going to do housecleaning on the site, testing and a full face-lift. A couple of readers have emailed about the website loading poorly or the comments field not working since moving to Dreamhost. After Dreamhost's technical gurus … Continue reading Excuse our mess
We’re back
Route 66 News is back after a nearly five-day outage. In short, I encountered grave and unexpected troubles last week with the site's hosting service and decided to move to a new host. The website went back up partially -- mostly on mobile -- on Saturday, and returned to its full power about noon Sunday. … Continue reading We’re back
Website needs more data on New Deal projects
The good news is someone has put together an interactive map of New Deal sites that were built beginning in the 1930s and are still standing. The bad news is the listings on the map are incomplete. Carthage, Missouri, for instance, has a few such sites that aren't listed. However, you can offer listings to … Continue reading Website needs more data on New Deal projects
Evidence of criminal activity in Cuervo?
A man whose hobby is exploring abandoned buildings found evidence in the Route 66 ghost town of Cuervo, New Mexico, that someone might be engaging in sex crimes. As it turns out, that evidence turned up at another site off Route 66 several miles west at another abandoned structure. According to a special report by … Continue reading Evidence of criminal activity in Cuervo?
We’re back
Route 66 News suffered about a nine-hour outage because of problems with its host, HostGator. We get hosting services from longtime roadie Guy Randall, who is a reseller for HostGator. He did nothing wrong, but apparently something went awry during the wee hours Wednesday, according to HostGator: At this time the issues have been identified … Continue reading We’re back
A chat with Rich Dinkela
KC Keefer, the guy behind the ongoing Genuine Route 66 Life video series, produced a new clip about "Roamin' Rich" Dinkela. The interview occurred at the closed MacArthur Bridge in St. Louis. https://youtu.be/6nKAsjC2kJg For a seven-minute clip, it nicely encompasses Dinkela's approach and his many activities on the Mother Road. You can follow Dinkela at … Continue reading A chat with Rich Dinkela
Blue Swallow Motel named a top 25 U.S. hotel by TripAdvisor
The Blue Swallow Motel of Tucumcari, New Mexico, recently was named one of the top 25 in the "Hotels with Exceptional Service -- United States" category in 2014 by TripAdvisor.com. The Blue Swallow was ranked No. 18 on the list and was the only Route 66 motel listed in that category. Of 822 ratings by … Continue reading Blue Swallow Motel named a top 25 U.S. hotel by TripAdvisor
Prominent National Geographic writer will travel Route 66
Andrew Evans, a prominent writer for National Geographic with his Digital Nomad blog, in a matter of days will travel the full length of Route 66 for Brand USA, a public and private partnership that promotes international travel to the United States. The announcement of the trip, made in Chicago this morning, contained these details: … Continue reading Prominent National Geographic writer will travel Route 66